Wings – ‘Hawks Postgame and Franzen Update

As I previously mentioned, I haven’t been able to watch Saturday’s game yet.

After seeing the game summary I was interested to see if the late five-on-three that Chicago used to tie the game back up was as weak as the power plays that St. Louis used to try to get back into the game earlier this week and Mike Babcock didn’t disappoint in his postgame comments.

From the Freep via Malik…

“They were shorthanded all night long,” Babcock said. “It’s an interesting league that way. You don’t even know. You can’t even complain. You just take it.”
Hossa was whistled for interference after Andreas Lilja was penalized for hooking late in the second period.

“Offensive zone interference call to be down 5-on-3,” Babcock said. “Unbelievable.”

Of course it worked out in the end so no one will be talking about it. No one ever talks about bad officiating until it costs someone something big.

The long-term damage from the night comes with Johan Franzen out for three-to-four weeks with a sprained knee. Ville Leino has been called up to take Franzen’s roster spot.

I agree with MacLeod that Leino could play in the top six, taking Franzen’s place on Henrik Zetterberg’s line, but I think it’s more likely that Leino goes with Valtteri Filppula on the third line while Dan Cleary moves up to try to replace some of Franzen’s physical play on the second line.